Be a Parent, Not a Best Friend.

This parenting tip means that sometimes the mom or the dad have to be the bad guy. Your child will get angry with you when you tell them no. It’s okay. They won’t hate you forever.

One of my husband’s favorite sayings is “It’s easy to be a good friend. It’s hard to be a good parent.” I totally agree with that quote. Nobody wants their child to be mad at them for disciplining them or making a decision for them, but that’s exactly what you need to do.

The thing to remember is that kids are very forgiving. Even if they get mad at you, they will forgive you in about ten minutes. It’s like in a marriage. It’s almost impossible to be married to someone without having occasional disagreements. It’s impossible to raise a child without occasional conflict.

As the adult, it’s your job to teach and discipline and guide your child down the right path. It’s a form of neglect to never tell them “no” and letting them make all their own decisions. Their brain is still under construction and they can’t possibly know all the right decisions to make. A child who is raised with never being told “no” will get a real wakeup call when they get out into the real world. They will be told no at their job and they won’t know how to handle it. When they handle it poorly, they will simply get told no again or not have that job anymore.